La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva 2016

An emblematic Rioja showing exquisite balance, silkiness and opulence. Aromatic notes of spice, liquorice and pepper envelope ripe red fruits with a touch of balsamic on the long, smooth finish.

The Tempranillo grapes come from the La Cuesta vineyard, in Cenicero and the Montecillo vineyard in Fuenmayor. Both sites are over 30 years-old and their soils are predominantly clay-limestone. The Garnacha grapes come from 'La Pedriza', a 70-hectare vineyard with deep rocky soils at 500 metres' elevation in Tudelilla in Rioja Oriental. This vineyard site offers outstanding conditions for growing Garnacha.

La Rioja Alta is committed to respecting and protecting the environment. In the vineyard, treatments are limited, investments have been made into clean energy sources and water is reused. Insect shelters have been installed in vineyards, promoting environmentally-friendly plant health defence while increasing the biodiversity in the vineyard. The grapes are hand-harvested at optimal ripeness.

Following meticulous sorting on optical selection tables, only the perfectly ripe grapes were fermented, using indigenous yeasts. The carefully selected wines were transferred to barrels and aged separately: 36 months in four-year-old American oak barrels for the Tempranillo, with six manual rackings; and 30 months for the Garnacha, with five manual rackings, in barrels of 2 to 3 passages. Bottle-aged for three years.

Tempranillo 80%, Garnacha 20%

Scores: 94 Pts Tim Atkin MW 2024 · 95 Pts James Suckling 2024 · 17.5 Pts Jancis Robinson 2024 · 94 Pts The Wine Advocate 2024